Beware the Insidious Power of Marketing

Advertising is powerful. Avoiding it — in print, on radio, on television — is one of the best ways to control your urge to spend. When you willingly expose yourself to commercial pitches, you risk spending more than you intend. I’ve posted two articles recently about how marketing manipulates us to buy things. Allow me to belabor this point one last time before I move on. It’s important.

Corporations manipulate us in subtle ways. We know television commercials are designed to sell us things, but how many really understand that their power is felt primarily at a subconscious level, beneath awareness? It’s not that a Taco Bell commercial makes you go buy a chalupa now; it’s that weeks later you’ll find yourself pulling into a drive-thru when you could have been home in a few minutes preparing a salad.

The other day I wrote that people who watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials may be sabotaging themselves. But it’s not just television — marketers target us constantly. I could just as easily write about my own foolish choices. Every time Steve Jobs gives a keynote address, for example, I follow the live text updates. When the speech is over, I download the video. I willingly expose myself to these marketing machinations. And wouldn’t you know it? My life is filled with Apple products. (My mind is working overtime trying to find a way to rationalize an iPhone.)

Beyond emotional and demographic research, it was fascinating to read about Product Management techniques like planned obsolescence where products are specifically built to last for a limited time so markets for those products will continually renew themselves.

The manipulation runs deep.

In Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, Paco Underhill describes methods retailers use to enhance sales. Some of these are obvious, such as placing sweetened cereal at kid-height, or surrounding the checkstand with cheap impulse items. But other techniques are more subtle.

One ploy I hate is the freestanding display in the grocery aisle. These racks are placed to impede traffic at locations where the store wants the consumer to stop and look around, the more likely to succumb to an impulse purchase of a high-profit item. This is remarkably effective. Since reading Underhill’s book I’ve made a point to note these at work in our local Safeway. Just last Friday I watched as an old couple was blocked by a display and my wife’s cart. The old man immediately turned his attention to the nearby shelves, spotted a package of cookies, and placed them in the cart next to his bran flakes. He bought something on impulse, something he would have simply passed by had the barrier not been there. (More about Why We Buy here.)

The fully-stocked shelves of a store not far from my home. Photo by lyzadanger.

Now the question of how to increase sales of margarine was much clearer. Cheskin told his client to call their product Imperial Margarine, so they could put an impressive-looking crown on the package. As he had learned…the color was critical: he told them the margarine had to be yellow. Then he told them to wrap it in foil, because in those days foil was associated with high quality. And sure enough, if they gave someone two identical pieces of bread — one buttered with white margarine and the other buttered with foil-wrapped yellow Imperial Margarine — the second piece of bread won hands-down in taste tests every time. “You never ask anyone, ‘Do you want foil or not?’ because the answer is always going to be ‘I don’t’ know’ or ‘Why would I?'” says Masten. “You just ask them which tastes better, and by that indirect method you get a picture of what their true motivations are.”

Employees of the marketing firm that bears Cheskin’s name took Gladwell on a tour of a supermarket. There they pointed out subtle touches that can persuade a consumer to buy: the color of a 7-Up can, the size of Chef Boyardee’s head on a package of ravioli, the use of a glass container for canned fruit instead of a tin. (Look for a larger excerpt soon — Gladwell replied to my e-mail and granted me permission to post a long passage! This makes me giddy.)

Ultimately we must each bear responsibility for our purchasing behavior. We can try not to be swayed by advertising and marketing. But no matter what we do, we are all affected by attempts to manipulate our subconscious. Even when we believe we are immune to manipulation, we are not.

However, if we’re aware of these marketing tricks, if we can catch ourselves pulling into the Taco Bell drive-thru, or reaching for a can of 7-Up, we can make more informed decisions. We can shake off some of the manipulation and save money in the process. Education helps. Reading Why We Buy helped me view retail stores in a new way, to see the little things that are done to part me from my hard-earned cash.

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That diaper article is interesting. But it didn’t talk about the merits of cloth diapers. We used cloth diapers with our son till he was 15 months old. This allowed us to make big paymnts to his college savings plan. I didn’t really notice that doing the laundry more often took any more time. Having to take out the trash and go to the store for more diapers takes a lot of time too. It’s not like you have to soak or fold modern cloth diapers. But there just isn’t the same marketing machine.

Keeping up with the Joneses is hard once you’re a parent. As soon as you go to the first parent-infant drop-in, you’ve got the parents with their $1200 strollers. And I can’t believe how many pairs of shoes toddlers seem to have. We just went to a 2nd birthday party with a $75 cake. And I’ve been hassled for not wanting to spend $15 + lunch to take my two-year-old to the aquarium/science centre/art gallery. (I concede that we have a couple of memberships, but we thought them through. Paying $15 for a one-time fee is different.) Then there are the $200 swimming lessons, $200 music lessons, and various other fees for the toddlers. People seem to think that spending a lot of money on your kids will make them better.

But I know this isn’t true. My husband and I come from very modest backgrounds, yet have had very successful academic and professional careers. And we have good friends and an appreciation for many things in life. Yet there seem to be a lot of people who think spending boatloads of cash on your kids will make them better people.

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VinTek

“If you are are invested in common stocks, you probably bought a piece of your companies from someone else. This money goes directly to the seller, and they might just smoke it up their crack pipe for all we know. If the seller is the company, then it could be used for those things, but I don’t know how often that happens. If you get dividends, then you are actually taking away money from the company that could be used for any of those things. If you invest in bonds, then yes, that money could be used for all of those things. It probably would be better for the company for you to sell all your stock and buy its products. Better for you to buy and hold.”

Yes and no. True, my money goes directly to the seller when I purchase a stock. But by the same token, the act of my purchase (in concert with many many similar acts by others), moves the stock price up. An increased stock price helps the company to retain or attract talent (in the form of stock options) or acquire new assets such as other companies (in the form of stock swaps). A higher market capitalization often gives a company a higher value to measure against debt, resulting in lower interest rates.

I don’t think you’ll ever hear a CEO or CFO of a company say, “Don’t buy our stock! We don’t want to bear the expense of paying you dividends!” If you’re aware of such an example, I’d be very interested in learning about it, as it would represent a very atypical situation.

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GG

Lynn has the right idea. We read stories here and other frugal living blogs about how to research for good deals on things and that almost always involves opening yourself up to marketing. It does no good to blame companies for “manipulative” marketing, but we can use this information to own selfish consumer advantage. I’m sure from the “Evil Corps'” point of view, we are just manipulating their marketing to our own selfing wealth accumulating ends.

@VinTek:
“Nonsense. My money is invested in companies, where it is used to fund research and development, provide jobs, goods and services.”

If you are are invested in common stocks, you probably bought a piece of your companies from someone else. This money goes directly to the seller, and they might just smoke it up their crack pipe for all we know. If the seller is the company, then it could be used for those things, but I don’t know how often that happens. If you get dividends, then you are actually taking away money from the company that could be used for any of those things. If you invest in bonds, then yes, that money could be used for all of those things. It probably would be better for the company for you to sell all your stock and buy its products. Better for you to buy and hold.

Very valid point. I would also like to add that one way to combat this effect is to choose the neighbourhood you live in, such that you live with people that make less than you do. “Keeping up with the Jones” is certainly a powerful effect. You can help reduce its effect by choosing to live near families that can’t spend as much as you. Instead of buying a much house as you can afford, buy as little house as you can “afford”.

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dimes

Getting rid of the TV/internet/newspapers doesn’t do too much. Aside from the grocery store, you have women carrying around LV and other designer handbags, kids riding those wheeled shoes, and the ubiquitous iPod everywhere just to name a few. Peer pressure is also a huge part of successful marketing. Walk into any middle school in this country and you’ll see what I mean. Even if you withdraw yourself from consuming media, you aren’t going to be able to withdraw from others who are also consuming media. So yes, no one can escape the power of marketing, but if you’re aware of this, you are more likely to be able to resist it.

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VinTek

Thanks, Adam, for one of the funniest posts I’ve ever read.

“Your article also appears to violates one of the principles that this nation was founded on and that principle is ‘That human life value is the source and creation of all property value.'”

Hmmmm…I don’t recall reading this in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. Care to tell me where it is?

“Your article also appears to violates one of the principles that this nation was founded on and that principle is ‘That human life value is the source and creation of all property value.'”

Gee, I don’t see that in our founding documents either.

“Is saving money at the expense of human life value a good idea? Our founding fathers didn’t think so.”

Care to attribute these ideas to at least one Founding Father? I know that at least one Founding Father stated, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” That was Ben Franklin. He was also the fellow who wanted to prove the power of compounding by leaving $5,000 to each of his two favorite cities, Boston and Philadelphia. A stipulation of the gift was that the money could only be paid out at two specific dates, 100 years and 200 years after the date of the gift. After 100 years, each city could withdraw $500K for public works projects. In 200 years, each city could withdraw whatever balance was left. In 1991, each city received approximately $20M.

“Most people have as one of their top five a need to feel comfortable as often as possible.”

I suggest that you look up Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. You need to know what you’re talking about.

“If the man sits on his money, he is creating no value for the services he values, thus ending capitalism in a free society.”

Nonsense. My money is invested in companies, where it is used to fund research and development, provide jobs, goods and services.

“You appear to value money over an enjoyable lifestyle.”

More nonsense. The frugal among us value spending and enjoying within our means. Most of us fully intend to spend our money. We just want to make sure that there is enough of it around that we don’t have to work for the rest of our lives. You have your version of what comfort means, we have ours.

While I’m sure that many marketing guys are just trying to earn a living, there are some who will use any excuse, say anything, twist any fact to justify their point of view. Your post was entirely unsupported by fact.

Say, I’ll bet you’re type to say that if we don’t spend like crazy to keep the economy going, the terrorists will have won.

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Ed

I watched the Super Bowl for the commercials, I don’t drink beer, but I thought the Bud commercials were pretty funny. I still don’t have a desire to buy and drink beer.

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Lynn

I assume I’ve been fine-tuned to be an exquisite receptor of marketing messages. They: billions of dollars on research and testing to craft messages that target my most vulnerable hopes and fears, delivered to me thousands of times a week for my entire life. Me: well, just me. Trying to live my life as something that is authentically mine instead of a tool for all those other interests.

I’m blogging about a new approach I’ve been trying at http://www.takebackyourbrain.com. Basically my thinking is, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! Corporate interests have gone to massive effort and expense to train me to be receptive to advertising. Rather than just trying to resist its influence, maybe I can use that training to my advantage.

Take Back Your Brain is about using technology like computers and cell phones to create and deliver advertising messages to ourselves about the things WE care about. I’m learning as much as I can about the techniques advertisers employ to get us to do their bidding (thanks for the tip about The Consumer Trap) so I can use them to develop effective ads that remind me to take action on things I want to do. It’s pretty cool how well it works.

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Wesley

I think Adam had some good thoughts. I once worked in an Ad agency, and can respect the power of influence…even if subtle and over long periods of time.

I never knew how much advertising affected me until I went a few months without television. My spending went down and my free time went up. Granted, the internet has its share of ads, but those are oftentimes easily blocked.

Great post. I have been reading your blog for a while now and I am always impressed with the scope of your articles.

Marketing is a scary science. I believe the sophistication of marketers is getting to a level where it needs to be somewhat controlled particularly where children are involved.

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Angie

Caught too late to edit–rewrite that last sentence as, “Personally, I think it’s shameful that people are proud to exploit others for personal gain.” I still stand by that sentiment.

Even older than the Declaration of Independence is the sentiment that “Love of money is the root of all evil.” There you have it.

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Angie

Adam, I appreciate your post for giving us the other side of the coin, so to speak.

I think it’s taking it a bit far to invoke the Founding Fathers to defend capitalism in its current form. There is NO WAY that someone from the 1700s could have envisioned the technologically sophisticated, media-saturated lifestyle that modern Westerners live every day.

Personally, I think it’s shameful that people proud to exploit people for personal gain.

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DC Portland

JD – I had to post to this one. Great stuff! Keep the psychology/money things coming. This kind of knowledge is absolutely critical to maximizing one’s well-being. Gladwell’s book is an excellent window into the mind’s eye. I also recommend Peter Whybrow’s “American Mania” as a resource to expand your knowledge. Not only does marketing turbo-charge our consumeristic tendencies, but it is making us sick. Whybrow argues (very effectively) that our genetic code is not able to withstand the rat race that we now find ourselves in.

On a personal note, like many who have posted here, stepping back from marketing (i.e. turning off the TV, getting rid of junk mail, staying away from the mall) is tremendously effective in becoming a better money manager. Exposure to ads during the Superbowl made me feel sick to my stomach. I had forgotten how far I had fallen prey to the insidious “discipline” that is marketing.

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squished18

BTW, I love the picture. It is now my desktop background.

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joshuat

Interesting anecdote from earlier today that is related to sales and advertising.

I had Wii Play on pre-order at Gamestop. I called the store to see if the shipment had come in yet. When the clerk answered the phone, he said something along the line of, “Thank you for calling Gamestop, the only place you can trade in a PS2 for $100 off a PS3. How can I help you?”

I wasn’t even calling about a PS3! I do have a PS2 though, and it got me thinking about that. Argh!

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squished18

I think another extreme source of marketing manipulations are magazines. The obvious part of the magazines are the advertisements contained there. However, the more insidious power of magazines are the articles contained in them.

One of the terrible powers of marketing is to show you a picture of how perfect your life “could” be. Subconsciously, this makes you think of how terrible your current life really is. Through repeated manipulation of images, we begin to think that the idea life is to be white, have flawless skin, have a flawless smile and perfect hair, live in a house with perfect lighting at all times, designed by a professional interior decorator, that never has a speck of dust or any item out of place, and has a lush green lawn.

Of course, magazines frame all of this marketing manipulation in the guise of being “helpful”. How many “self-help” articles do you see in magazines these days? Magazine upon magazine have list upon list containing “17 things you could do to live a more perfect life”. Instead of being helpful, most just end up convincing you that what you really need is to buy that $90 Sonicare toothbrush for that perfect white smile.

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Adam

Thanks for the story. I am in marketing. All those manipulations and more are applied in marketing and I’m proud to use them. People are manipulated because they choose to be. Everybody lives and will defend the things that make them feel important. Most people have as one of their top five a need to feel comfortable as often as possible. They will drive around in a parking lot for ten minutes to find a parking spot by the door of the GYM. They will then go in and walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes. Why, because they didn’t want to walk really, they wanted to be comfortable. Walking on the treadmill filled a different need.

Marketing is like this. Advertisers are aware of what people want to be comfortable. There is a huge market to provide services to those who want comfort. Why did the older man in your story buy those cookies? He wanted comfort. He was looking for it because it was important to him and he found it. Is the store owner to blame for providing the man with what he wanted? Was the man a victim? Did the clerk secretly put those cookies into his cart? No. The older man made a choice based on the silent record that he was playing in his head that said, “What will make me comfortable?” The real manipulation is that the man wanted to live the life of a consumer of sweets while appearing to be healthy to meet one of his other needs.

Your article also appears to violates one of the principles that this nation was founded on and that principle is “That human life value is the source and creation of all property value.” That man valued his own comfort more than his money. You appear to value money over an enjoyable lifestyle. A second founding principle is that “Money is a receipt for value creation”. You want your readers to keep their money because saving money for people is important to you. Money is nothing more than a receipt though and has no value of it’s own. Is paper somehow more important then cookies or bran flakes? If the man sits on his money, he is creating no value for the services he values, thus ending capitalism in a free society. Is saving money at the expense of human life value a good idea? Our founding fathers didn’t think so.

The store owner makes a profit for his manipulation. What he did was point out to the man what he wanted all along. He also makes money. Profit is the tool of validation that his services were valuable. Thanks for the article.

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João Miguel Neves

“Even when we believe we are immune to manipulation, we are not.”

Reality is a bit more ironic. The ones who believe they are immune are the first to fall. They forget to ask themselves the question “Why am I buying this?”, because they would never be manipulated.

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gg

It’s Fred Meyer! (I just saw that same picture on Wikipedia.)

Adverts may manipulate our base impulses, but I agree that consumers should take responsibility for their own actions. If I end up in a Taco Bell drive-thru, the marketing may have shown me on the path, but it is I that actually walked it. I personally am always suspect of my own urges to consume, because I know I can’t trust my subconscious with such matters.

I was in a Larry’s Market the other day standing in line and super hungry. I expected the impulse buy candy next to the line, but it wasn’t there. I laughed to myself thinking how they just lost the one impulse sale they could have made off me.

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K

Honestly, just going to the store can be bad enough. I hardly buy the newest gadget, and usually wait for the tech to settle until it becomes common enough to be affordable.

We regularly Tivo past TV ads, and I use AdBlock in Firefox extensively. But it doesn’t really affect spending.

Of course, as more people do like I do, marketing is becoming more insidious, with product placements and cultural name-drops.

But even bigger than advertising is its cascade effect from those who do get hooked by it. The mass spread of iPods (and the fact they are the only things that will work with iTunes, another insidious ploy) is what made me finally get one for someone as a gift; not advertising or brand loyalty.

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Andy

OH, the irony!!

Now I want to go buy the books!

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VM

What an excellent article – I have been reading your blog for a few months now, and you never disappoint.

A small detail for your consideration – when you link to photographs on Flickr, please link to the photo itself, rather than to the general stream of the photographer. I believe that this is in the terms of use of the photos contained on that site.

Keep up the great work, and thank you again for the daily inspiration!

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RJ

For some inexplicable reason, I feel like losing weight right now…. OK, I said that because there is a Weight Watchers ad on this page. Perhaps it’s not the most insidious of ads, but I know that many people think that WW products are actually healthful. The truth is, in spite of the low fat and low calories, WW food is still processed with high fructose corn syrup, processed white flour, and other junk.

What I’ve just said points to a cautious person’s conflicting identity in the face of advertising: it’s good to try to minimize exposure to ads and product placement, but it’s also important to try to have the tools to understand the products being marketed. No matter what, we’re forced into being “consumers” of one kind or another.

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Iris

The yellow color for margarine should not be surprising. I believe it was illegal at one time to color margarine in some parts of the country (I’m thinking Wisconsin). The dairy farmers certainly knew that along side butter, ‘white’ margarine was less appealing. Margarine at one time came with a color packet to be mixed in if you wanted it colored.

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brad

The weird thing I’ve noticed in my own purchasing behavior is that sometimes I’ll buy things that I don’t really need because I feel compelled to do my “duty” as a consumer to support a company that I like. Crazy, I know. Every time Apple has come out with a new version of their operating system, I’ve upgraded, regardless of whether I needed the new features. I subscribe to Apple’s .Mac service even though free alternatives are widely available for the same services (e-mail, online storage, calendars, etc.). I just bought Apple’s new Airport Extreme wireless base station to replace a perfectly functional wireless base station made by Microsoft, which I’ve been using for the past four years without a complaint. I ought to have my head examined. Am I a victim of Apple’s marketing? Maybe, or maybe I’m just a victim of my own twisted thinking. 😉

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English Major

Congratulations on talking to Malcolm Gladwell–that’s pretty cool.

Anyway, I just wanted to confirm anecdotally: I’ve definitely felt less consumption-compulsive since I started living without a television. And watching television after a long stretch of not watching it, I find the ads truly bizarre and obtrusive.

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DM

Thanks for an excellent post. When we become more aware of the tools that are used to manipulate our behaviour, we’re more capable of resisting them.

Also… I’m glad to see you mention Malcolm Gladwell. I’m a long time admirer of his work. For those inclined to read more, his New Yorker articles are archived at his website:

(My favorite is a piece entitled: “Smaller –
The disposable diaper and the meaning of progress.” It’s particularly interesting now that I’m the father of a 9 month old daughter and going through PLENTY of diapers.)

The subtle manipulation through product design and placement is at least palatable. Disney, when they first opened their Disney Stores, pushed their retail employees to cross market all of Disney’s merchandise.

Went in to get gifts for the niece and nephew and had the cashier bring up in ‘casual conversation’ the Disney movie opening in theatres that Friday. After the sale I stood back and watched the next few interactions between the cashier and the customers. New rides at Disney World, Disney hotels, movies, etc. were all ‘dropped’ into conversation.

Sickening.

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RJ

A great article, JD. Advertisement, including direct and residual manipulation/persuasion, is very hard to avoid in North America. Even buses, clothes, restaurant menus, and some songs urge us to keep various products in mind, whether we want to or not. It’s impossible to avoid living in an advertised world, but perhaps more selective use of media and more selective exposure to public space can help us fill our minds a bit more judiciously.

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gagan

Thats true about adevertising and consumer behaviour. But then, when there is no demand create it , when there is no problem , create it and give a solution to it. Thats how things move . As consumers , we have to be more aware of our needs and priorities.

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